Chapter 17

"What do you think he meant by that?" Lou asks after inquiring what Lisa and Ty had talked about privately.

"I'm not sure. Jack told me he thought Ty was smarter than he was letting on and now I see what he meant. What Ty said didn't really answer the question. He phrased it so it wasn't clear if he already knew or if I had just told him."

"Well, either way he knows and now it'll be interesting to see what he does about it."

"Or it may explain what he has been doing and why."

"We can only hope, I guess." Lou replies at the end of letting out a long breath.

"Anyway, Amy and I need to get going. I already called the bank to set up an appointment to talk about a construction loan, so it'll be up to you to cover for us when Jack gets back."

"You told them that Amy would be coming along too, right?"

"Yeah, just as Ty told me to, so if Ty's suspicions are right, Jesse should be there outside after our meeting."

"And Ty will be waiting while you're in the bank?"

"That's the plan. He wants to make sure Jesse doesn't make a scene."

"I think he might be more concerned about Amy making a scene."...

...

Sitting in his truck watching for Jesse, a grin creeps across Ty's face as soon as he sees him walk across the street to the bank. "Just as I thought. You're making this way too easy for me." He thinks to himself.

Wanting to prevent a confrontation with Amy, Ty quickly exits his truck and walks towards the bank.

Surprised by Ty's sudden appearance, Jesse stops and says, "Borden...you're still in town? I expected you to be gone by now."

"You mean you wish I would be gone by now, right? So, you have business at the bank?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Shouldn't you be back at Briar Ridge sending a few more horses off to their death in a meat truck?"

"That was a mistake."

"Damn right it was! You made a mistake getting caught!"

"That's not the way it was, but since you mentioned a mistake... The mistake is Amy and Lisa thinking they can go in direct competition with me or use it as a threat to get me to drop the charges against Tim. It won't work!"

After pausing for a brief moment, Jesse continues, "You know, it's too bad...All this could have been avoided had she agreed to come work for me at Briar Ridge when I first offered her the job."

"You underestimated her desire to do what she's best at and its not working at Briar Ridge."

"Well, you're underestimating me...Hudson use to be Stanton territory. My family once ran this town and I'm going to make sure we do again." Jesse replies in a defiant tone.

"You mean you, don't you?"

"Yeah, me...and then I'm going to make sure that stuck up bitch, who thinks she can just blow me off, is put out of business whether it's at Heartland or Fairfield. That's payback for turning down all my offers and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!"

Trying desperately to control his anger, Ty thinks, "C'mon..keep it together. He's only trying to fire you up so you'll do something stupid." and then he replies, "We'll see about that."

"Let me give you some advice, Ty...don't stick around too long, otherwise I'll see to it that Scott's clinic is put out of business too."

Having quickly settled himself down and in an attempt to turn the table on Jesse, Ty warns him, "I have some advice for you too...You might want to keep an eye over your shoulder."

"Is that a threat?"

Calmly Ty responds, "Not in the least...just some friendly advice for someone who's nothing more than a spoiled little boy playing in a man's world."

Out of anger, Jesse clenches a fist at his side. Noticing the clenched fist, Ty expects Jesse to swing, but then he suddenly turns and walks away without saying a word. Ty calls out, "I thought you had business at the bank?" as he watches Jesse storms off.

A few minutes later, Amy and Lisa walk out of the bank and get in the truck with Ty. "So, how did it go in the bank?" He asks.

Lisa replies, "I thought we would be meeting with the loan officer, but it turned out to be the bank manager."

Amy adds, "Yeah, and we dragged it out for as long as we could. Lisa and I must have asked every question in the book. So many that he excused himself. He said it was to research the answers. I think he just did that so he could make a call."

Lisa continues, "Just as you suggested, by the time we were done he knew exactly what we were planning for Fairfield. So, did Jesse show up?"

"He did and we had a few words. Ty briefly repeats a filtered version of the conversation he had with Jesse. "...he was trying to provoke me but..."

"Surprised and trying not to laugh, Amy says, "I can't believe you said that to him!"

"I probably shouldn't have, but I let him get under my skin for a moment. I think I got the better of him though. His reaction was priceless...I don't think he could have turned any redder."

"You were right then...Jesse does have someone at the bank who's working with him." Lisa comments.

"Yeah...and now we have a pretty good idea who. The next step is for you to call Val, but wait until tomorrow morning. I'll text Ashley a little later, so she knows it's time to tell Val about what happened between Jesse and Tim."

Amy offers, "I can take care of that, besides I want to talk with her anyway."

"I'm sure you do."

"But what if Val calls here first?" Amy asks.

"Then it's up to the three of you to make sure you intercept any calls."

Lisa offers, "I'll make sure Jack misplaces his cell phone for awhile just in case."

"Sounds good. I'll drop you two off at the ranch and then I need to go by the clinic. Cassandra called while I was waiting and said she heard from Scott. He'll be back the day after tomorrow."

Hearing the news, Amy immediately thinks, "Oh no!...I thought we would have a little more time!"...

...

Hey, Jack. What brings you by the clinic? I thought you were over at Big River talking to Tim."

"I guess I should have expected you would have heard about that by now."

"Yeah...well, Amy and I just arrived back at the ranch when we saw you driving away. As soon as we got into the house, Lisa and Lou told us what was going on. So, has Tim calmed down?"

"He has. I brought him to town with me to talk with his lawyer. That's where he is right now, so I thought I'd kill a little time and come by to see how your ride went. You said Amy was with you?"

"She showed up as I was about to start back. She was riding Chance and I have to admit that I was surprised she had finally gotten a saddle in him."

"I'm surprised too, but then she's been working with him quite a bit."

"So, how's Tim doing with all this?"

"Tim is being Tim...now he thinks that he can beat this, but from what I understand Jesse has plenty of witnesses to back up his side of the story that Tim attacked him unprovoked. Just in case though, he's now thinking about selling Big River. He even asked if I would buy it. I guess he thinks I'm made of money. I tried to talk him out of it, but trying to change Tim's mind about anything...well, you know."

"Did he say what he's going to do if he does?"

"I hate to say it, but I hope he doesn't. My guess is he'll move to be closer to Shane, although he did say something about a job offer he recently got. He didn't say where though."

Changing the subject, Jack asks, "So, have you made up your mind yet about what you're going to do? I gotta tell you that I'd hate to see you go and I know everyone else feels the same way."

"I just found out that Scott will be back the day after tomorrow and he'll want an answer, so I'm going to have to make up my mind pretty quickly."

"I guess you saying then that you haven't decided yet?"

"Actually, I kinda have. It's just that there's a few things going on right now and...well..."

Understanding Ty's hesitance to answer and not wanting to force a decision since the last time he did so it didn't turn out very well, Jack interrupts, "Say no more...I get it."

...

Alone in the barn office early that evening, Amy calls Ashley to put the next step of Ty's plan in motion.

"...I don't find it all that surprising, but I'll take care of everything at my end."

"Ashley, I have to ask...did you two talk about anything else...you know, about me?"

"Of course not. If we had, I would have called right away to tell you. We talked a couple of times and at first I thought that's why he called, but he said he didn't want to hear anything about what the two of us had talked about. I tried asking him some questions about you, but he didn't want to talk about that either. All he wanted to know about was Jesse and whether my mom brought him on only to run Briar Ridge or if she knew he was looking to buy property too.

Then he wanted to know if I thought Jesse had enough money of his own to invest in acquiring property there. I told him I didn't think he would have that type of money and if that's what he was doing then he was probably pulling some sort of scheme. Then he asked me if I knew or had ever heard of that Calgary investment and Developement company. Of course I hadn't, so he asked if I would look into it for him. He said that while he was in Calgary he couldn't locate an office, only a Post Office box. After looking into it, I told him since it wasn't listed with any government agency that it was probably a fictitious company."

"That's pretty much what he told us. So, where do you think Jesse is getting the money he needs to purchase all the land he wants?"

"Well, actually all he has to do is come up with a down payment and then hope for a quick flip. Ty has his suspicions, but he didn't say what they were. He did suggest however, should I take over, that I hire someone to do a thorough audit of the operation. He didn't need to say anything more than that to suggest where."

Changing the subject, Ashley asks, "So, before I go, tell me...what's going on with you two?"

Amy sighs. ""I wish I knew. We've talked quite a bit, but he's never given even a clue as to how he feels and he's suppose to leave pretty soon."

"A clue?... Why would he get himself so involved if he didn't have at least some feelings for you?"

"I hope you're right, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do. I've tried everything short of coming right out and telling him I love him and I don't want him to go."

"I suggest you don't...I mean telling him you love him, especially if he's adamant about leaving. You don't want it to look like you're trying to force something. It's not a bad idea though to let him know that you wish he didn't have to go."...

...

While Jack, Amy, and Georgie are out doing the morning chores, Lou asks, "So, Lisa..did you call Val yet?"

"First thing this morning. She's flying here and wants to meet this afternoon, after she talks to Jesse at Briar Ridge. Ashley did her job and already filled her in about what happened, apparently leaving out a lot of the details just like Ty wanted. She was surprised though that it was me and not Jack who called, so I'm sure she'll try calling him. I already hid Jack's cellphone, so we need to keep him away from answering the house phone."

"Where are you two going to meet? Not here or Briar Ridge I hope."

"No...I suggested we meet at Fairfield. I have to say that Ty was right on about everything so far. I just hope it continues that way."

"Well, if anyone can read people it's Ty. He has that knack. Maybe because of the way he was brought up. It was his strength and Amy's weakness...I guess you could say that was their problem or rather Amy's. She didn't see in people what Ty did and I don't think she ever trusted Ty's instincts about them."

"I guess you're talking about Chase Powers?"

"Yes...but it was more than that. I think he began to see in her something he didn't want to see and that was probably the beginning of the end."

"And what do you suppose he sees in her now?"

"Hopefully someone who's changed, but still a little bit naive and who needs him around."

Lou sighs before continuing, "Grandpa is good at giving advice, but sometimes advice isn't enough. There are times you need to be blunt and tell it like it is. Grandpa does that with dad and never seemed to have a problem doing it with Ty either, but when it came to Amy he would back off. He took a pass on giving her a wake up call when there where quite a few opportunities to be blunt and tell her exactly what she needed to hear. Unfortunately, the wake up call she needed didn't come until Ty left, but by then it was too late.

Grandpa finally did come down on her that time Chase showed up again. He really laid into her for not seeing him for what he was. He was pretty angry about her bringing him here to the ranch and going as far as helping him out after all the trouble he had caused between her and Ty. It was something she needed to hear. The kind of thing she should have heard from him long before that."

"I know what you mean and I know how Jack is...he doesn't like to get involved and when he does he isn't as straight forward as he should be. When he is, it's sometimes too late. What about you though? I'm not asking because I'm being critical since I'm sure you and her have talked."

"We did, but I think every time I offered the least bit of criticism she saw my advice as being skewed. Looking back on it all and to be fair, there were times when I should have spoken up, but I didn't. Now with this Jesse thing...I just hope Ty sees it for what it is...that Jesse had all of us fooled."

Changing the subject back to Val, Lou asks, "So, have you decided yet how you're going to handle this meeting with Val?"

"I have...I'm going to use something out of Ty's playbook."

"Playbook...What do you mean?"

"It's something Jack mentioned to me about Ty. It seemed to him that Ty liked to hold his cards close...not revealing too much until necessary. I'm going to do the same. I'll let her show her cards first and then lay mine out on the table."

"I would love to see that!"

"I'm sure you would, but you and Amy have to keep Jack occupied and it might not be a bad idea to keep tabs on Tim as well. Maybe you should have him come over for lunch, so you both can keep an eye on them."

"That's a good idea, but those two together here for lunch with everything that's going on? Now it seems like you'll have the easy job."...

...

To be continued